Law Firms Services Overview

RubinBrown’s Law Firms Services Group provides a range of tax, consulting and assurance services to law firms and their partners. We have a dedicated business unit, staffed with professionals with deep industry experience, to serve the unique needs of law firms. With the capability of providing a suite of wide-ranging services, as professional advisors, we specialize in helping law firms and their partners realize a sound financial future.

Cyber Security Services for Law Firms

RubinBrown’s Cyber Security Advisory Services team monitors emerging threats and trends, develops tools and methodologies to address them and delivers specialized services to organizations seeking independent third party testing support.

The end of the calendar year usually coincides with law firms announcing partner promotions. When law firms are structured as partnerships, newly promoted partners can expect their tax situation to change for the 2017 filing year. For tax purposes, the partnerships report the firm income and the income “flows through” to the individual partners of the firm.

Every year, organizations lose an estimated 5% of revenue to fraud. While fraud can never be completely eliminated, controls can be implemented to drastically reduce the chance of fraud in your firm. Establishing a strong ethical culture and a zero tolerance policy for fraud is a good first line of defense. This culture can be supported through strong written policies and internal processes that embrace best practices and strong preventive controls.

For an increasing number of law firms, the pursuit of mergers and acquisitions has become a primary strategy for continued growth. Across the country, law firm leaders are finding that the demand for law services is flat and there was a record number of deals in 2015 as a result of heated competition among firms for new work.

E-Focus Newsletters

In January 2017, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities (Statement). The requirements of the Statement are effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018 (i.e., December 31, 2019 year ends and fiscal years ending in 2020).

The 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act grants employers who voluntarily offer qualifying employees up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave annually, a tax credit for a portion of wages paid in 2018 and 2019. In order to be eligible for the credit, the employer’s written policy containing specific language must be in place before the leave is taken.

On December 10, 2018, the IRS issued long-awaited guidance on the application of two new tax provisions added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The provisions under this Act are effective January 1, 2018. Notice 2018-99 provides guidance for tax-exempt entities on how to compute the additional Unrelated Business Taxable Income (UBTI) generated related to parking provided to employees under IRC Section 512(a)(7).